Main menu

Getting quality right during initial assembly is crucial, Tesla workers said, because repairs waste time and money.

Report: Tesla uses 'build first, fix later' approach to assembly

More than 90 percent of Tesla Model S and X EVs need repairs right off the line

November 29, 2017

Share

Facebook

Tweet

Pinterest

Email

More than 90 percent of Tesla Model S and X EVs have defects when they come off the assembly line, according to a Reuters report. The agency talked to nine current and former employees, including a former senior manager “with experience in assembly, quality control and repairs on the Model S and Model X.” For comparison, brands like Toyota require fixes on fewer than 10 percent of cars. Tesla, for its part, says its quality control process is more rigorous and that most fixes only take a few minutes.

At Tesla, "so much goes into rework after the car is done ... that's where their money is being spent," a former Tesla supervisor said. All sources spoke under the condition of anonymity, due to non-disclosure agreements. Bigger fixes, workers told Reuters, go to a lot called the “yard,” which has exceeded 2,000 vehicles at times. Tesla denied to Reuters that such lots exist.

Defects included "doors not closing, material trim, missing parts, all kinds of stuff. Loose objects, water leaks, you name it," another former supervisor told Reuters. "We've been building a Model S since 2012. How do we still have water leaks?"

Elsewhere on this site is a story on the just-revealed Tesla Roadster. Tesla says 60 mph arrives in 1.9 seconds, 100 in 4.2 seconds, and the quarter-mile in 8.9 seconds. Top speed? 250 mph. Range ...

Some of the problems, workers said, came from pressure to keep the assembly lines moving. Batches of cars sometimes are sent through with parts missing.

"Our goal is to produce perfect cars for every customer," Tesla said in a statement. "Therefore, we review every vehicle for even the smallest refinement. Most customers would never notice the work that is done post production, but we care about even a fraction of a millimeter body gap difference or a slight paint gloss texture. We then feed these improvements back to production in a pursuit of perfection."